Turner's move helps new offensive line improve

Coming off a season-high 325-yard rushing performance, Henderson County’s young offensive line has shown that it is growing into the job.

With the team needing to fill several holes on the offensive line after last season, junior Mitchell Turner moved from inside linebacker to right guard.

“We went to him in the spring and said, ‘We need you to play offensive line,’” Henderson County coach Josh Boston said. “He made the move and he loves it.”

Turner had played some offensive tackle on the junior varsity team as a sophomore but lettered on the varsity team as an inside linebacker. His first priority was to get stronger.

“I gained 30 pounds in the offseason,” said Turner, who is 5-foot-10 and 231 pounds.

“He loves playing. He loves contact. He’s undersized, but he plays the game the right way,” Boston said. “He looks to be physical. His speed helps him out. He got strong in the offseason. He had a really good offseason.”

Turner had an especially good game in Friday's 42-28 loss to Caldwell County. “The offensive line did a great job,” Boston said. “Turner graded out at 90 percent. He had five pancakes (blocks which left a defender flat on his back). You can tell he had fun Friday night.”

“We executed up front and we got our blocks down. We didn’t hold them as good as we needed to, but we are continuing to work on that in practice,” Turner said.

Running back Dada Simpson rushed for a season-high 143 yards on 25 carries, while quarterback Skip Patterson totaled 120 yards on 25 carries. The emphasis on the ground game became a necessity after Patterson suffered a rotator cuff injury during pre-game warmups.

“We tried to throw the ball some early. Skip would eye one receiver, then he’d take off running because he didn’t feel like he could make a throw. We made some adjustments and started running the football,” Boston said.

The offensive line should get a boost this week with the return of senior Andrew Turley, the only returning starter on the offensive line. He missed the last three weeks with a tear in his MCL.